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OCEAN SWIM SERIES ANNOUNCEMENT

My thoughts on Scott Rice and the https://oceanswim.co.nz/
The season schedule has just been announced. There are some cool swim locations around the country. I know it’s been topical especially for Christchurch swimmers. I have watched online comments with interest. Scott and I raced each other in the pool in the 90’s. I recall Scott having the vision to set up an ocean swim series back in 2003 ish well before our sport was truly ‘popular’. I remember Scott working at DB in sales while putting together his events company. As a fellow swim operator who is passionate about swimming I understand some of the early struggles that come with setting up a swim business. Only those who are truly crazy try to make a living from swimming. Only those that are truly committed to the sport survive. Scott has risked a lot personally and invested a lot. Ask his friends, ask his family.

The Ocean Swim Series has not only survived it has flourished. Scott has contributed a significant amount to the growth of our sport. I know he cares and he cares a LOT about your guys, the swimmers. He also has a national business to run. He needs to make sound decisions in order to remain in business and so he can look after the business, swimmers , his team and his family. That’s not unreasonable.

I have had personal conversations with Scott while he deliberated over the direction the series would take. It’s been stressful for him as he tries to find a balance between doing what is right for our swim family in Christchurch and what’s good for the ocean swim series. He has tried many times to find the successful recipe for Christchurch. He had to make a decision and I know only too well no matter what decision he reached not everyone will be pleased. That’s not an easy situation.

And now Nelson has pulled a coup and managed to knab the South Island swim for the open water swim community. They got one over on one of the biggest cities in New Zealand . Well done them I say. Instead of bagging Scott perhaps we may want to be asking ourselves how this occurred?
There are a lot of overheads that go into moving an event from one Island to the other. It’s easy to knock Scott but please don’t forget he was out there risking his all for the benefit of open water swimmers well before many of you even knew you liked the sport. Maybe you should be asking yourselves how can I work to ensure Christchurch is a better place for open water swimmers? Maybe we should be spending our energy lobbying those who are not supporting our sport than those who have worked so hard to grow it. We at FitandAbel know only too well that Christchurch has some barriers that perhaps shouldn’t be there …

At FitandAbel we will continue to support Scott and his endeavours even if that means leaving Christchurch is the best decision for them. It’s the only place outside of Triathlon you’ll get a large mass start open water swim. We at FitandAbel are with you for the long haul Christchurch. We’ll continue to grow our https://fitandabel.com/race-series/ offerings to open water swimmers in Christchurch. There is the expanded Wednesday night KPMG RealSwim Races series including two 4km swims. A good example here of local support – KPMG have helped make this possible. And there will be a unique RealSwim Adventure Race happening in Christchurch later this summer. It’ll be different from anything you’ve tried before. It will have very limited numbers so keep an eye out for that announcement here and on www.fitandabel.com

A long spiel I know . Scott and I don’t always agree on issues , just like you and other swimmers I am sure. But rest assured he is just like you and I – passionate about the sport. Food for thought. You don’t have to like the decision. But you can channel your energies from the decision into something positive.

Keep smiling open water swimmers and lets support each other even if we don’t always agree.

1 Comment

I have had the pleasure of working along side Scott Rice over the 2016/2017 Ocean Swim Series with the launch of SwimEars and I endorse Dan’s positive comments 100%. The NZ open water swim community is extremely fortunate to have Scott and Dan as back bones of their sport they are both hard working honorable men that are still working long after most swimmers have showered off and are relaxing with a beer.

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